We Are Only Nine
by sofeyrose
Summary: The Jinchuriki, before, after and during the Fourth Great Shinobi War. Chapter 3: Utakata
1. Chapter 1: Fu

The sounds of happiness and laughter taunted her, plagued her very existence. She hugged herself tighter, shivering as a cold breeze drifted by. The sun was nearing the horizon, and it would soon become nightfall. She could hardly fall asleep, however when there was the constant fear of someone using that moment of vulnerability to try and kill her lingering in the back of her mind.

She continued to watch the playing children from afar, seeming to be so close yet so far away. There was null chances of her being asked to join them in their game of ball, she knew. She was more accustomed to people running from her if she so much as took a step in their direction. Though the people feared her, they never tried to harm her physically _(is there any difference?, _mostly due to fearing the village leader's reaction at their trying to harm his weapon. But she sees their eyes, sees their fear and their hatred, and knows if they saw her in a state of vulnerability, they would be tempted to kill her. That is why she never stays in the village for long and instead sleeps in the trees, miles outside the village.

They know she won't run away. Oh, sure, she's thought about it, entertained the idea, but they know she will never actually _try. _Even if she did suceed in escaping, what would she do then? The girl was no fool;she was only ten years old with hardly any ninja training _(they don't want her becoming too strong)_. The chances of her surviving without help in the wilderness were near to none, even with the Nanabi's help. They would just drag her back, kicking and screaming or not, and she knows she would be punished harshly for even considering abandoning the village.

So she stays seated on the swing, gazing at the carefree children with her orange eyes _(the people think they're freaky, and the children never let her forget. They're signs she's not normal, but she pretends to never notice their irregularity)_, and if she noticed the wetness on her cheeks, she gave it absolutely no attention.

Tears were weakness, and Fu would never give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

Never.


	2. Chapter 2: Yugito

Yugito is strong and loyal.

She was four years old when the Nibi No Nekomata was sealed inside her. Since it was an unspoken tradition to seal Bijuu inside relatives of a hidden village's leader so they don't later betray the village, as the Sandaime Raikage's great-niece (and parentless, sadly. Her parents were killed during one of the Great Shinobi Wars, so her great-uncle took her in) with great loyalty to Kumogakure even at that tender age, Yugito was chosen to be the Nibi's container. _"It is a great honor to be a Jinchuriki," _the Raikage had said. _"Stand tall and be proud, Yugito Nii. You are a Guardian of Kumo, a hero for bearing the Nibi. Never forget that." _And she never did. Yugito was proud to be given such an honor, even prideful, and she never hid that fact from anyone. And so, she trained. Trained to be a kunoichi of Kumogakure. Trained to prove she was worthy of the honor she'd been given. Trained to master the Nibi's chakra.

She quickly rose through the ranks, a Genin at seven, a Chuunin at ten. But that wasn't enough for Yugito, no, she needed to be _stronger_, _faster_, _better_, because then how could she look the Raikage in the face, look _any _Kumo shinobi in the face if she proved to be only a burden in the end and not worthy of being a Jinchuriki after all? So, with a lot of sweat, blood and tears, Yugito achieved the rank of Jonin at fourteen. The Raikage praised her, congratulated her, and Yugito _beamed_, full of happiness and pride, pride in herself and her village, pride at proving herself worthy to her Raikage, and _happy _because he acknowledged her achievements, even praised her for them. How could she not be happy?

The residents of Kumogakure respected her, the shinobi were impressed by her shinobi skills, and the civilians respected her _simply _for being a Jinchuriki of Kumogakure! Life was good for Yugito, and she couldn't have been more happy.

"Can you see me now, Tou-san, Ka-chan?"she whispered one night, sitting on a rooftop and gazing at the stars with a content smile. "I'm a Jinchuriki, a Guardian of Kumo. I hope you're proud of me, wherever you are." And then she admonished herself, because why would they _not _be proud? Shaking her head and brushing a blonde bang out of her dark eyes, Yugito grinned to herself.

And then it started.

**'What a fool you are**,**'**came the Nibi's disgusted voice one day while Yugito was out training. Yugito had jumped, honestly surprised at hearing the Nibi speak to her. The cat-like Bijuu hardly ever spoke to the blonde and if it did it was always to tell Yugito it would escape its confinement one day, and that that would be a day it would take great joy in. In fact, the Nibi only started saying such things after Yugito conquered it and gained free access to a portion of its power. Evidently, the Nibi could hold quite the grudge if it wanted to.

_'What are you talking about?' _Yugito asked it mentally. She'd have probably looked crazy if she suddenly started talking when there was no one else except herself there, so Yugito resorted to speaking mentally.

The Nibi was too lady-like to snort, but Yugito could practicaly _feel _it sneer as it spoke. **' You are a fool if you think Kumogakure respects you for being a Jinchuriki, Yugito Nii. One must wonder how much of this so-called respect is truly genuine.'**

Yugito was shocked into silence for only a moment. Her expression twisted, her hands starting to shake as her anger built-how dare it make such an assumption! _'You dare...!' _she hissed lowly, sounding like a spitting, angry cat.

The Nibi wasn't finished, not by a long shot. **'Oh, I dare, child**,**'**it hissed right back, sounding just as feral. **'I **_**dare **_**because I am sickened by you, by your so-called leader, by all of Kumogakure!'**It took deep breaths, trying to calm itself. **'You, Yugito Nii, are a fool, and I am ashamed to call you my container. You fancy Kumogakure respects you for being a Jinchuriki, that it is a great honor to be a 'power of human sacrifice', as you refer to yourselves as, that those few who give you a wide berth and give you looks of disgust are just jealous you were chosen to be a Jinchuriki, but have you ever wondered that they gave you those looks because of a different reason? Perhaps a reason you don't want to hear...or are you so full of yourself that you think jealousy is all there is to it, that there isn't something more behind those looks...hatred, perhaps? Fear? Even anger?'**

_'You're wrong!' _Yugito practically shouted. _'They're jealous because of my potential, of my being a Jinchuriki, and that's all there is to it!' _She didn't want to hear this, hear the Nibi speak about Kumo as if they hated her, as if all she'd worked for, all she'd done to prove herself amounted to nothing in the end and that Kumogakure wasn't what it seemed to be. Kumogakure was her home, the village that she'd been raised in since birth, and Yugito wasn't going to just stand back and let the Nibi talk bad about Kumogakure. _'You're just trying to get to me, manipulate me into becoming angry and releasing you!'_

**'Think of me what you will, child, but you **_**will **_**listen to me, you **_**will **_**hear this." **Yugito was about to tell the Nibi it could 'fuck off', but the Nibi wasn't having that. **"Silence!"**

Yugito was silent, but there was wild seething in her dark eyes. _'Nothing you tell me will break my loyalty to Kumogakure, ever!'_she proclaimed loyally.

**'Are you sure? Or are you just trying to convince yourself?'**it asked, but it continued before Yugito could answer. **'But I suppose you have a point. Perhaps Kumo is truly more understanding and tolerant of Jinchuriki than the other hidden villages, and perhaps they truly do respect you.' **The Nibi switched tactics before the smug-looking Yugito could ask what it meant about Kumo being more understanding about Jinchuriki than the other villages. Weren't all hidden villages proud of having Jinchuriki of their own? **'Or maybe the Raikage is just making his people respect Jinchuriki by sheer force of personality, or perhaps they merely offer the appearence of respect lest they face his wrath. Using force might make them wear masks of respect and pride when they look at you, but they will hate you all the more for it in their hearts.' **Its words were cutting, like a kunai to the heart. **'What do you think, Yugito Nii, self-proclaimed 'Guardian of Kumo'?' **It was hard not to notice the sarcasm at the end.

Yugito was speechless. _'I...' _She struggled to gain her bearings. _'This is all nonsense!' _She nodded to herself. _'Nonsense!'_she repeated, but it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself, and not that she truly believed her words.

**'Humans,'**the Nibi hissed. **'So stubborn! They never believe you until they see it for themselves! Perhaps this is how Kurama felt...'**

Yugito didn't ask the Nibi who this 'Kurama' was. She was concentrating so hard on convincing herself that the Nibi was speaking utter nonsense, she barely noticed the Nibi had even spoken.

_'Just nonsense...'_

And it _was_ nonsense...right?

The next day, Yugito could barely concentrate as she walked through the village. Her mind kept repeating the Nibi's words, taunting her with them, even, and that cost her as she ended up accidently bumping into someone.

As soon as their eyes connected, Yugito saw something. Just a flicker of emotion, mind you. Nothing anyone should be troubled about.

But it was the emotion that was being directed at her that caused her to reel back in shock.

"Ah, Yugito-sama!"exclaimed the dark-skinned civilian. Almost everyone was dark-skinned in Kumo, and Yugito was one of the few who actualy had pale skin. "I apologise for bumping into you! Good day, Yugito-sama!" And then the young man hurried off, but Yugito was too shocked to respond.

_'It can't be...'_

Hatred. Utter, unbridled, unrestrained _hatred_.

That's when the doubts set in. When some part of Yugito started to doubt her village, when she started to think that maybe, just maybe, being a Jinchuriki wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

She considered that part of her traitorous, of course. Here she was, a respectable ninja of Kumogakure, a village that'd given her a great honor _(or she used to think it was)_ , and she was actually doubting them! A village that'd given her their respect, that put their full trust in her, and here she was, actually thinking they didn't respect her at all, that they in fact hated her!

_'What a disgrace I am,'_she thought, gazing down angrily.

She pinned the blame on the Nibi for raising such doubts. It was that meddling Bijuu that'd suggested Kumo might hate her, after all. Perhaps it hadn't said it directly, but the Nibi had still _suggested_ it.

From now on, she would never listen to the Nibi ever again, Yugito was adamant about it. The Nibi had already done enough damage-assuming Kumo actually hated her! How absurd was that?

It wasn't a promise. It was a vow.

It was also that same vow that caused her to be defeated by the hands of the Zombie Duo, Hidan and Kakazu of the criminal organization, Akatsuki. It caused her to die, and it caused her to have her greatest fear to come true.

To die _alone_.


	3. Chapter 3: Utakata

When Utakata was young, he relied only on himself and trusted no one except himself. Any kind and benign gesture was viewed with suspicion, skepticism and distrust by the boy, and he never accepted such gestures _(they're just trying to lure him into a false sense of security, he knows)_. Jinchuriki were viewed with ill-disguised fear, hatred, even anger in the harsh and brutal Kirigakure _(who wouldn't? The Yondaime Mizukage may be the Jinchuriki of the Sanbi, but his reign over Kirigakure is a tyrannical one. After all he's done, Utakata knows it would be hard __**not **__to fear and hate Jinchuriki)_, and Utakata was no different. Given the chance, they'd probably kill him just to prevent another blood-crazed Jinchuriki Mizukage like Yagura from taking control of Kirigakure and killing off more bloodline wielders _(but the Rokubi would reform eventually, and when it did, the village was as good as destroyed. Utakata has talked enough with the Slug Bijuu to know it is a vengeful one and won't hesitate to destroy Kirigakure for sealing it)_.

He was chosen as the Rokubi's container simply because there was no other close relative to the current Mizukage available. Utakata was the Yondaime Mizukage's distant cousin, and most knew he wasn't the best choice _(he holds little love for Kirigakure and has no real bonds to tie him to the village. Out of all the Jinchuriki they know of, Utakata is one of the most likely to go rouge) _, but the Yondaime Mizukage had no other relatives, so the Rokubi was sealed inside Utakata when he was six years old.

As a side-effect of the sealing, Utakata gained pale golden eyes _(they're signs he's not normal, that he's something more...something dangerous)_. From afar, they could look more like a pale brown.

After he became a Jinchuriki, the few friends he'd made turned their backs on him. They avoided him. _Monster_, they whispered, _a demon_, others said _(he pretends he never hears)_. So, Utakata turned his back on them. Then and there, he promised himself he'd never put his trust in another again _(it'll only hurt when they betray him in the end, so Utakata closes off his heart)_.

And when he was just begining to learn how to trust again, when he was starting to learn thst perhaps Jinchuriki could find faithful friends if they searched hard enough, his sensei _(his role-model, his idol) _did the unthinkable.

Harusame-sensei betrayed him.

It was a blow that Utakata never truly recovered from, and it was that betrayal that led to him going rouge.


End file.
